What is Lug Wrench Brewing Co.? It’s a virtual brewery with operations in both New England and Virginia. The ‘company’s’ core beliefs are in hand-crafted brewing, beer exploration, and most importantly, camaraderie. Lug Wrench is a brewery that doesn’t have to worry about profit margins, distribution arrangements, or market share. It gets to focus on the important things: beer and the culture that surrounds it. Lug Wrench Brewing Co. could just be the best brewery you have yet to hear of.

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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Tasting Notes: Dragon's Breath - a Lug Wrench Collaborative Beer

These notes have been sitting in my notebook for a month or two and I finally got up the energy to type them up so they can be archived on the blog with the rest of the Collaborative Beer information.

Back in the summer of 2009, Tom and I brewed a clone of New Holland's Dragon's Milk, which we named 'Dragon's Breath'. During a family function in May 2010, T and I were able to open a bottle together and note down our thoughts on how the beer has held up. Below are the notes we took from that tasting.

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Aroma: Sweet character with a hint of bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, and a slight toasted nut aroma. In addition, we were able to detect light toasted coconut (most likely from the oak character).

Appearance: The beer is dark, almost to the point of being black with garnet highlights when held up to the light. Once pourred, the a light tan head of tight bubbles presents itself.

Flavor: Initially, the beer gives a complex brown/sugar/dark surgar/molassas flavor without the sweetness. Vanilla and bourbon flavor follow behind with some sweet alcohol riding along with it. There is a roast character that rounds out the flavor. A maple flavor is detected in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Moderate to full bodies, robust with a fair amount of structural tanins. There is a warming alcohol, but it is tucked into the beer well.

Overall: So far the bbeer has aged very well, blending the flavors together. No oxidation noted. With the full body and warming alcohol, the beer is probably best as a cold weather sipper. There is residual sweetness/flavor in the aftertast, but it has enough dryness to prevent any cloying.

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The beer turned out a lot better than we had hoped and many of the more harsh notes we detected during the early tastings have fallen away. Can't wait to try this beer in several months as it continues to develop.

Slainte!

-JW

"Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer."